BODY:
Singer-songwriter Aimee Mann has filed a $ 2 million suit
against UMG Recordings and Universal Music & Video Distribution for
allegedly releasing an unauthorized collection of her songs last year.

The "Aimee Mann Ultimate Collection" was released
at a time when Mann was enjoying success with the release of songs she wrote
for the film "Magnolia" and a new solo album, the suit filed in
Los Angeles Superior Court noted.

U's release "reduced the sales of plaintiff's own new release by wrongfully
diverting consumers to Universal's unauthorized release and otherwise poisoning
the marketplace for her product," the suit said. Mann, who has released
three solo recordings since her split with the '80s pop group Til Tuesday,
put out her May 2000 disc "Bachelor No. 2" independently after
splitting with UMG. The record, which Mann marketed heavily on the Internet,
has reportedly sold more than 200,000 copies......

'Lesser songs'

The Universal record allegedly included "lesser songs," songs
not meant for commercial exploitation that were released as "promotional-only"
singles and songs she recorded when she was not a solo artist.

"The record was misleading to the public, inferior in quality and wrongfully
exploitative of plaintiff's current success," the suit said.

In an open letter on her Web site, AimeeMann.com, the artist characterized
"Ultimate Collection" as a "wretched fraud," adding
that the label on which it was released --- Universal's Hip-O imprint ---
declined her offer to help with the design and artwork for the release.

"We were basically barred from being involved in any way on a project
that had my name on it," Mann wrote. "As typical as this is in
the music business, it still never ceases to amaze me."

A Universal Music Group rep refused to comment on any pending litigation,
citing company policy.

According to the complaint, the release breached Mann's former contract
with a U subsidiary that prohibited the coupling of songs from different
recordings, repackaging of records, the use of any Mann pictures or biographical
material and the exploitation of recordings not intended for commercial
exploitation without Mann's written consent.

The U release also came more than a year after Mann's recording agreement
was terminated, the suit said.